MORAL ECONOMIES OF DEBT IN THE GREEK FINANCIAL CRISIS

As the Greek crisis unfolds it exposes key sites of financial power within contemporary capitalism. In particular the role that debt plays as a central feature of financialisation, which breeds economic fragility across the Europe.

Using moral economy as a lens makes visible how economic institutions operate based on norms that define rights and responsibilities; and, how these norms require legitimation based on the moral behaviours of key actors. The Greek financial crisis is important because it exposes the explicit moral economies of debt at work in contemporary economic governance strategies. Namely, how the moral sanctity of ‘you must repay your debts’ is only enforced by key actors (the Troika) in certain circumstances based on which types of institutions and types of debt werebeing governed.